Good Luck Charms
by Ashluver505
Summary: Ash is nervous for his final match against Paul in the Sinnoh League...only one person can calm him down and get his confidence back up. Didn't put this in story...Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon! I promise!


Ok, so I know I'm writing another fic right now but I've this idea for a little while and wanted to get this one-shot out before the Sinnoh League got started next week. I figured it'd look better to see that I wrote it before anyone knew what happened in the league that way I can say I didn't know and it won't look like I'm changing anything from the show. So there ya go. Here's the cute Palletshippy story I have in mind. I hope you all like it!

Good Luck Charms

Ash was nervous. No wait, he was beyond nervous. He was a nervous wreck. He was so nervous he couldn't even sit. He was now pacing back and forth in the locker room under the stadium. In less than twenty minutes he'd be battling his biggest rival in front of millions of viewers. For the longest time he was looking forward to this match. He had been confident. He trained harder than he ever had. He had complete faith and trust in his Pokémon. His whole hometown was behind him. All his traveling companions and best friends, except one, were there at the league cheering him on. Misty had closed her gym, May and Max had come from Hoenn, and of course, Brock and Dawn were there. Even Zoey had come. He had been real surprised at that. Professor Oak had also traveled the long distance to watch him. He had all the support he could really ask for. He had been ready for this match against Paul. Through the whole league he had been ready.

Trouble was, it wasn't just in the league. It was now the final match of the whole competition. The absolute finals. Whoever won this match would win the entire competition, trophy, title, and all. It was the farthest he had ever gotten and now it was here. The match he could have sworn he was ready to deal with, and he couldn't stand it. He was so afraid he'd screw something up and then all the work he and his Pokémon had done would go done the drain.

He wasn't worried about his Pokémon, they were all great and had amazing training. He was worried about himself. He knew in his last match against Paul he had what it took to put up more of a fight than he did, he just…couldn't. For some reason he couldn't think quick enough or plan fast enough. Paul just…weirded him out for some strange reason. He couldn't understand, no matter how hard he tried. And now he was scared he was going to do it again…publically. Not to mention everyone would be so disappointed in him. Looking beyond that, he really didn't want to let his Pokémon down. He just couldn't bear to do it again. So now here he was, with Pikachu, Misty, Brock, May, Max, Dawn, and Zoey watching him, pacing back and forth, scared to death about this match with his rival.

"Will you stop pacing already?" Misty asked. "You're going to do fine." She told him.

"Yea, Ash, no need to worry!" Dawn exclaimed. "Paul doesn't stand a chance against you!" Everyone else agreed.

Ash looked at them, still pacing. "That's the thing, he DOES stand a chance against me…a very good one." Ash told them. Of course they wouldn't get it. They hadn't been in his head during his battles with Paul. They didn't know why he couldn't think like he usually does in battles. They weren't confused. They just thought he had failed…maybe that wasn't the right word…just…didn't succeed. Yea, that was better.

"Oh please," May started, "He may have beaten you before, but that doesn't mean squat."

"Unfortunately, it does mean…squat? Where did you come up with that word?" Ash asked her. May shrugged. He then sighed. "It means he has the advantage as it is. He knows how to beat me…I don't have that luxury." Everyone sighed.

"Ash, come on." Zoey said standing up and walking in front of him to make him stop pacing. She put a hand on his shoulder. "You'll do fine. You'll battle hard and even if you do lose, which I doubt entirely, you'll give Paul the biggest and hardest battle he's ever had. And like I said, I have no doubt, at all, in my mind, that you'll go out, beat that jerk of a trainer, win the whole competition, and become the Sinnoh League Champion. No doubts." She assured him. Ash gave her a half smile. She really was good with words.

"Zoey's right, you'll win for sure! We're all behind you!" Max exclaimed happily.

Ash smiled at the young boy. "Thanks Max." A knock came at the door. Everyone turned to see Professor Oak poke his head in with a smile on his face, something hidden in his eyes. He did know Ash was nervous about this match, but he was also hiding something else.

"Come on, kids, Professor Rowan won't be able to hold all of our seats very long." He told them.

"Right." Brock said standing up. The rest did as well. The breeder walked over to the younger trainer. "You'll do great, Ash. You always do. And no matter what happens, we'll all be extremely proud of you. We always have been and always will be." He told him. Ash nodded with a smile.

"Thank you, Brock." The breeder nodded and everyone gave him encouraging looks and words as they walked out and shut the door.

Ash collapsed on the bench. "Ugh, Pikachu, why do I feel so…so lost? I've never felt so under confident before." He told his partner. Pikachu jumped on his lap.

"Pika, pika! Pikachu! Chu, chu, pika!" He told his trainer. Ash laughed.

"You're right, Paul won't win that trophy easily, that's for sure." Ash told his partner. He then frowned. No matter what anybody said, even his best Pokémon, he still couldn't shake this insecurity off. He sighed. 'What am I supposed to do? If I feel like I'm going to lose, then that's how all my Pokémon will feel, and then we'll never win.' Ash was so engrossed in his thoughts, he didn't hear the door to the locker room open behind him. Pikachu, however, did. The mouse looked at who entered and his face brightened up considerably. Pikachu ran off Ash's lap and sat at the end of the bench. Ash didn't notice, but he did notice the hands suddenly appearing in front of his face, cutting off his vision. "Ahh!" He screamed jumping off the bench away from the unknown hands, his hat falling off his head and landing on the ground in the process. He heard laughing from behind and quickly turned around with a huge blush and glare on his face. He was about to yell at the person but stopped, completely silenced, at who it was.

"What's the matter, Ashy-boy, paranoid or something?" Gary questioned between laughs.

"Gary!" Ash exclaimed surprised. "What are you doing here!"

"What? I can't come watch my best friend compete in his biggest match ever?" Ash flushed making Gary laugh more. "Speaking of which, I should probably go and see how he's doing. Paul may be nervous." He told Ash with a teasing smirk on his face.

"Gary!" Ash yelled making Gary laugh once again.

"Sorry, Ashy-boy, I just can't resist. You're so fun to pick on." He told the slightly younger boy.

"Obviously. You had fun 'picking' on me for years." Ash replied.

"Yes, yes I did." He said with smirk. Ash rolled his eyes and before Gary could react and before Ash even thought, he jumped the bench and ran straight into the researcher's arms.

Gary chuckled. "Did you miss me that much, Ashy?" He asked. All he could do is nod as he buried his face into the brunette's chest. Gary chuckled again, but wrapped his arms tightly around Ash's lithe waist, hugging his best friend back. He then sighed. Man, could he ever get used to having the raven haired boy this close all the time.

After a few more moments, Ash broke the embrace and looked at his longtime rival and friend. Gary smiled at him, straddled the bench, and pulled Ash down making him straddle the bench as well, facing towards him. "Now tell me, why are you so nervous?"

Ash turned his head away from Gary hiding his blush. "Who says I'm nervous? I'm going to kick Paul's butt in the match and win the whole competition!" He exclaimed with fake confidence.

Gary arched his eyebrow. "Uh huh. Yea, I'd love to believe you, but seeing as how I grew up with you, I can easily tell when you're either acting or lying. And you're doing both."

Ash sighed and tilted his head so he was looking at the bench. "I wish you couldn't read me so well." He told the brunette.

"Yes, but I can. Now tell me what's up. You usually are very confident in your abilities. What's changed?" Gary told him.

Ash sighed again. Maybe Gary could understand. Maybe he could help him. "It's just, with all the other battles I've had with Paul, it wasn't just the fact that I lost. I couldn't think."

Gary blinked. "Wait, what?"

Ash looked up at him. "When I was battling him I…I just…You know how, when I was battling you in the Silver Conference, and in the heat of the match, the middle of the battle, I came up with the idea to melt the field to get Charizard closer to your Blastoise?" Gary nodded.

"Completely original and ingenious idea." Gary commented.

Ash nodded. "Yea, and in all the other battles I have, I can come up with these strategies on the spot, in the heat of the moment. But when I battle Paul, I can't think fast enough. I watch him attack and I can't think of a counter move. I can't," He closed his eyes. "I'm so in shock, my thought process is just completely cut off. It's like my brain has been hit with a Thunderwave or Stun Spore. I can't make it move…I can't make myself think…I barely even remember to breath." He explained.

"And so now, I'm so scared and so afraid it's going to happen again. What if I completely freeze up and don't even remember to call out to my Pokémon? I'm going to end up embarrassing myself and my Pokémon in front of thousands…millions of people. And not to mention everyone else. It was all over the news that your grandfather came to watch and support me…if I lose like I have been doing to Paul, what'll people think? And not only that, everybody will be so disappointed in me. I'm going to let everyone down…again…just like I always do…and I don't want to. My Pokémon are strong and can handle themselves against Paul's. It's not them I'm worried about. It's me I'm afraid is going to screw up." Man, did that ever feel good to get off his chest. He'd been holding that fear in for months. He'd never be able to tell anyone something so deep, especially since everyone believed in him and believed he was such a confident person. Gary was the only person he could really open up to.

Gary took in what Ash said and took a moment to respond. "Ok, first things first." He said taking his hands and lifting Ash's head to make him look at him. "When, and how, did you think you've let everybody down?"

"Well, you know, in all the other competitions and stuff." Ash said. "Every time I battle in a competition and lose I let everyone who is supporting me down. I'm just, tired of doing it."

Gary blinked. "You know, I'm really tempted to hit you upside the head right now." Ash gave him a look of surprise and confusion. Gary noticed. "Ash, do you realize, in every league you've battled in, you've gotten EXTREMELY far? You made it into the top 16 in your very first league. Do you realize how rare that is? It is so hard and so uncommon for someone to get that far in a league on their very first attempt. And then you won the Orange League. And then the top eight in the Jhoto and Hoenn Leagues? Ash, that is an amazing reputation. I can't believe you can't see that. And you never let anyone down. No one. Your friends, your family, not even the town. Do you not realize that there are over two hundred people competing in each competition? To be in the top sixteen or top eight is an accomplishment in itself." Gary told him.

"Think of it this way, you know how tough gym battles are right? How strong gym leaders are?" Ash nodded. "Think of it like this, each of those two hundred trainers battle and win against at least eight of those gyms, just like you do. They're all strong enough to win those matches but most of them are beaten out long before you are."

Ash blinked. "I never thought of it that way before…"

Gary nodded. "So you're not a disappointment to anyone. Don't you ever think that again. If you do, I swear I'll kick your ass." Ash flushed. "Second thing, you are like a second grandson to my gramps, so no matter how badly you lose in any match, you'll never embarrass him. That man, every time I talk to him on the phone, he always, ALWAYS, has something new and wonderful to tell me about you. Most of the time, it's more than one thing. You make him so proud, you wouldn't believe. No matter what happens, he will never be embarrassed by you. He's proud to tell people he supports you. You have a determination like no other, a will to help people in need at any point in time, even if it does inconvenience you, and heart that I could swear is made of gold. And Gramps knows this and knows that so many people can see it too. And no matter what people think of him for supporting you, he won't care. You're family to him. You always have been. It won't faze him or make him stop caring about you." Gary explained.

Gary could see some of the confidence building back up in his best friend's eyes. He smiled. "Do, do you really believe all that?" Ash questioned.

"No, I know all of that." Gary replied. Ash smiled at him. "Now third off, since when did you care what other people thought? Last thing I remember is you not ever giving a crap what people thought of you. You did what you believed was right in your heart and mind, and didn't let anyone else bother you. When did that change?"

"I…I don't know…" Ash stated now confused. "I guess I just…" He looked at his slightly older friend. "I don't know. Why do I suddenly care?"

"I don't know. That's something you'll have to answer for yourself, Ashy-boy."

"Huh, ok…" He shook his head.

"But, in any case, if you really do care, anybody who watches these competitions knows how hard it is to get where you are. No problem there. Everyone knows it's extremely hard work. No worries." Gary said. Ash nodded. "Now as for this…thinking problem you have when battling Paul, I think I might know what's up." Ash looked at him with desperation in his eyes. "I think you aren't focusing on the match like you should. I think you're thinking more of proving yourself to him and proving that your battle style is the right way. You're way to focused on him and his thoughts, rather than the actual battle itself. Whenever you're not focused, those strategies and combination attacks that you know you know how to do and come up with, fail to be there. You need to focus on the battle instead of what this jerk thinks and how you can prove yourself to him."

Ash thought about it for a moment. "You're right…every time I challenged him, he had been putting me or my Pokémon, or my battling style down. I focused my attention on that I needed to prove him wrong, not the actual battle…oh my gosh…I never thought…what the heck was I thinking?" He asked himself, slapping his forehead with his palm.

"You were thinking that he needed to see that being friends with your Pokémon is important…and it is, but you're never going to make Paul see that if you don't focus your much needed attention on battling him." Gary told him. Ash nodded.

"Wow, thanks Gary. How you're so smart and actually know all this…you're a genius." Gary laughed.

"I'm no genius, I just use my head a little more than you do." He winked at the raven haired boy.

"More like a lot more." Ash said with a laugh of his own. "But thanks Gary, I totally owe you." Ash told him looking straight into his eyes. Gary smiled back and nodded. He then noticed that there was still some doubt in his friend's eyes.

He chuckled again. "You'll do great today, Ash. No need to worry, right?" Ash shrugged with half smile. Gary then thought of something.

Ash noticed the look. He knew that look too. It was used when Gary came up with a great idea. He watched as Gary reached under the collar of his shirt and pulled out a chain. Ash watched at the whole necklace came into view and his eyes widened when he saw the top half of the broken Pokéball they shared on the end of the chain. Before he was able to speak, Gary took the necklace off and put the chain around his own head and neck. Ash looked down to where the necklace hit his chest and picked the ball up. "Gary…"

"There," The emerald eyed boy said. "Now you not only have your skills as a trainer, you have my good luck charm too." He told his best friend.

"Gary, I can't take this." Ash told him. "This is your half."

"Then just borrow it. I think I can live without it for a few hours." Gary told him with a smile. The brunette watched as Ash smiled that cute smile he always loved, and then reached into his pocket. Gary arched his eyebrow as Ash pulled out a pink handkerchief. "Pink, Ashy-boy?" He joked.

Ash shook his head. "Misty gave it to me." He told the researcher. Ash then unwrapped it revealing other small items. Gary looked them all. He saw a lure that looked like Misty, the Cascade Badge, the Boulder Badge, the Balance Badge from the Petalburg Gym, half of a contest ribbon, and a contest ball sticker. He then noticed the bottom half of their shared Pokeball. His eyes widened a little. Ash picked the half of the ball up, rewrapped the other items back in the handkerchief, and put it back in his pocket. Ash glanced at Gary and noticed the small amount of curiosity in his eyes. He laughed a little. "They're all things I've gotten with, or from, my very best friends. Things I consider good luck charms. I keep them in my pocket all the time, that way, if I ever get into a battle, I'll always have them with me." Ash explained.

Gary nodded in understanding. He then smiled, took the bottom half of the ball out of Ash's hand, took the top half that was around the raven haired boy's neck, and connected the two. "Perfect fit. Two halves of a whole." Gary said. He then frowned a little. He wished they could be two halves of a whole. He'd give anything.

Ash noticed Gary's sudden sadden face. "What's wrong?"

Emerald eyes met amber ones. Gary sweatdropped and shook his head. "Haha, nothing. Just promise me something." He told Ash.

"Anything." Ash responded.

Gary put both his hands on both of Ash's shoulders. "Go out there and do your very best. I know you'll win if you do."

Ash smiled brightly at him. "Promise." Gary chuckled.

There then was knock at the door. The two Pallet trainers turned to see the door open and a league official stick his head in. "Ash Ketchum?"

Ash stood. "That's me."

The guy nodded. "You're on in five minutes. Be out there." He said.

"I will."

The man nodded again and then closed the door. "Well, I guess I should get out and get into the seats. I don't want miss a moment of this battle." Gary said standing. Ash looked at him.

"Yea, now that I know what I need to actually focus on, it'll be a match to see." He told the researcher.

"Mm, hmm." Gary said with a nodded. Before Gary could register what happened, Ash was in his arms again.

"Thank you so much, Gary. You're the best." Ash mumbled into his shirt.

Gary chuckled and hugged him back. "Anytime Ashy-boy." The two broke the embrace and Gary walked over and picked Ash's hat off the ground. He handed it back to it's owner as Pikachu ran and stood at Ash's feet. "Good luck Ash, I know you'll be great."

"Thanks, I'll be sure to win for you." Ash told him. Gary felt his heart skip a beat. Did he really mean that? Gary smiled, nodded, and walked towards the door. He was about to give a wave to Ash when an idea suddenly came to him.

"You know, there is one more thing I can give you for good luck." Gary said walking back towards the trainer. Ash paused in his movement to put his hat back on.

"Oh? And what's that?" He asked. Ash saw Gary smirk. Uh-oh, he knew that confident smirk. It's the one that got himself into trouble. It meant Gary knew something he didn't. This might not be good.

"This." Gary replied. And before Ash could register what 'this' was, Gary had leaned in a pressed his lips against his own. Pikachu, who was watching this whole ordeal, quickly covered his eyes with his paws and Ash's eyes widened. Before he knew it though, he closed his eyes, and out of instinct, wrapped his arms around Gary's neck as the researcher wrapped his arms around Ash's waist, pulling him closer. Ash started kissing back and Gary inwardly sighed. For a second there he thought he had made a mistake.

The two then broke the kiss and let go of each other. "What, what was that for?" Ash questioned completely perplexed.

Gary shrugged. "Good luck. Surely even you've heard of a good luck kiss before." Ash flushed. Gary chuckled and then kissed his forehead. "Go out there and win, Ash. I'm behind you all the way." Ash nodded. Gary then walked out of the locker room and with one last glance at his best friend, shut the door.

"Wow." Ash said. "I think, that was the best good luck charm I've ever gotten." He told Pikachu.

"Pika, pika!" He chirped happily. Ash nodded. He then put his hat on his head and headed out to the stadium, completely ready to not only face Paul, but destroy him in battle. And he was going to keep that promise and win specifically for Gary.

Yay! I'm done. Lol. Now I can sleep. Though, I don't think I will. I have another story in mind I wanna write real quick. Anyways, I hope it turned out well. It was just a cute idea I had and wanted to get it out there so yea. I may end up making it a two shot, let me know if anybody thinks it's a good idea. Until next time!


End file.
